General health matters.

[Daniel Quinn]

You’ve got to look on the positive side .

The altitude made my leg hurt . But we’re here in Minorca and it’s ace .

Everything that hurts is for a reason

[Nick]

Everything that hurts is for a reason

That seems a uncharacteristic mystic viewpoint.

Unless your reason consists of something like "simulates pain receptors".

But other than that, have fun

[IslandPink]

I do hope you can turn things around a bit, Paul. It's painful to think of you struggling, after all the great inspiration and advice you gave us when getting into this game.

[Paul Barker]

Thanks Mark. I’m pretty sure as the seasons change my repair skills will sell.

[Ray P]

Thanks Mark. I’m pretty sure as the seasons change my repair skills will sell.

Paul, I also wish you well and hope you can work your way through your current malaise. With the current financial circumstances more people will have to mend and make do so I imagine the demands for competent boiler repair engineers will increase - perhaps there's an improved opportunity for you to make a living whilst being ethical and helping customers through chastening times? There's an increasing trend towards repair and reuse so maybe you could market your skills in that way?

[jack]

Can you do your own thing rather than compromise by working for someone who may be ethically suspect?

Do you have to work for someone else? As ray says, repair skills have never been more needed.

You'd need 3rd party insurance and a few other things, but I'm guessing you have your own tools & van etc?

[Paul Barker]

Thanks Mark. I’m pretty sure as the seasons change my repair skills will sell.

Paul, I also wish you well and hope you can work your way through your current malaise. With the current financial circumstances more people will have to mend and make do so I imagine the demands for competent boiler repair engineers will increase - perhaps there's an improved opportunity for you to make a living whilst being ethical and helping customers through chastening times? There's an increasing trend towards repair and reuse so maybe you could market your skills in that way?

Yes. Funny thing is 20 years ago my ways were most heating engineers ways, customers were not exposed to anything different.

But there is a change in twenty years of public expectations. They like to be sold something new and dont see the problem that the new boiler wont last 10 years. They bight these character’s arms off at the thought of having a new one. Whatever it is.

What happened to the other heating engineers with my ways? Theyve all left the industry its now that bad, theyve jumped ship. They had good final year salary pensions and were permited to go early. I have no pensions of any worth, as they were all small funds and eroded away to worthless by the pensions industry fees on a dead pension that inly took contributions for a few years. The result of constant job changes, and the companies involved in the modern changing situations just contributing the government minimum.

[Nick]

I used to have this idea for Longdog Audio that I would make things that I thought people will want to buy because they were cheaper and more importantly better than what was out there. And generally I have done that, at least in terms of making them, selling them has been much harder. Generally it seems in HiFi and I suspect the rest of the world, what people want is what they are told to want by assorted tribes out there. So what I do now is make what people want to buy and don't beat myself up over spending hours trying to design a new thing that is no better than the old thing as if it was I would have done that with the old thing, and even if I made a new thing it would still not sell in very high numbers as I refuse to give the money to web sites and reviewers and marking folks that don't add any real value. And if the thing I designed that was better, did sell in any number, I would end up having to outsource the building of it so it would not be cheaper any more, and so it would become a vicious spiral.

But by just making and selling what they actually want to buy (mainly small power supplies) life is much much simpler. Generally it seems people don't want better, they want new. And they don't really care if its any good, but will they be able to sell it into the secondhand market, to finance the next new thing.

Its depressing, but I decided not to worry about it too much, I didn't create the problem, and I cant see any way I can change it, so it is what it is.

As ray says, repair skills have never been more needed.

Sadly, that may be true, and I used to spend a lot of time trying to fix stuff for people, but I have now started saying no, or pointing them to someone I know that does do repairs. As the quote says, repair skills are needed, but generally I find that people wont pay to have a repair done anywhere enough to justify the time and effort it takes, as they know they can just buy a new cheap one that will break just as soon for less than it would actually cost to repair it. And there is the hidden catch, that once you repair something it becomes your problem the next time it fails (probably because it was not being used correctly, which was why it failed in the first place) and forever afterwards.

[Ant]

Re the repairs that i do, (turntables, i wont touch amps, cd players ect) i always have to explain that it is time that is being paid for and not parts. The time it takes to chase a fault vs the time it takes to repair a fault, and the cost of a replacement part is not even comparable.
The expertise in being able to find that fault in the first place is not something that is easy to come by.

If for example you charge 20 quid an hour and it takes 5 hours work to find a 10p part has failed, and half an hour to fix it, that repair cost is £110.10. But people will baulk at paying 110 quid when they only see a 10p part as the broken bit.

If the thing to repair only cost 60 quid, then it is not economical to repair. If the thing cost a grand, then it is economical to repair.
That was the issue with the roksan xerxes, the amount of hours needed to be put in to fix it and the amount it was worth didnt tally. In that case, new was better. I dont pay myself to fix things so making an offer on the roksan was worth it to me, mutually beneficial to me and the owner of it.

These days i look at a repair job and i can generally tell wether it is worth doing or not, and will tell the person if i will take the job or not with an estimate on the cost. Before any money changes hands. I wont ever try to steer someone into shelling out for new from me, i will always be straight with them because i hate it when firms try to do that to me
Perhaps this is why i havent got a pot to piss in most of the time

[Nick]

I don't pay myself to fix things

No but the time you spend fixing it could have been spend earning £20 an hour so don't consider it free.

And the £20. Can you live on £160 a day after costs, tax and everything else? (assuming a 8 hour day).

[Ant]

Yes you are right in the case of the jvc i bought recently, that was with a view to selling it so when it is finished and being sold, the price will reflect the work i had to put in to get it fixed. The xerxes was just bought for me.

The other factor i have is that i have to look after emma so i have to be careful what amount of work i take on.
Quite honestly, if that wasnt a factor id just go back to my old profession and work normal hours doing a normal 9 to 5 if such a thing exists any more
As it is, i can just about scrape along on what i make.

[Nick]

We all do what we can to meet our needs and responsibilities. There is no implied criticism in what I typed for or at anyone, but I have come to realize over the years that we can all sometimes make things harder for our self than we have to. There is possible benefit in taking time to examine goals and more importantly motivations and try and spot things (and habits that we may not even realize we have fallen into) that we put in our own path.

[Ant]

I dont think there is any implied criticism in what you have written nick, and again you are right re habits and how easy it is to make things harder for yourself by falling into them. What i 'should' be doing right now is working on the unipivot arm, i have some ideas ive been kicking around in my head for a while re machining processes to make simpler to make, but at the moment i just cant seem to motivate myself to do it. I get into a bad habit of looking at the reasons why not and i really should know better by now. I recognise when im doing it, and examine the fact that i am. Then do nothing about it. The exact opposite of what i do when emma does it. Though it is generally a harbinger of other things when she does it rather than being bone idle.

The arm could be a good product for me if priced right and the right finish can be achieved, the modifications i did to the lathe were to start to address that issue, and the habit of procrastinating for no reason is one that needs to be broken.

To step back, examine and think, and then give oneself a kick up the arse is a skill i need to work on.

[steve s]

Thanks Mark. I’m pretty sure as the seasons change my repair skills will sell.

You need to work for a like minded company Paul .. or work for yourself to full the gap till pension time.. I'm sure that's going through your mind

[Nick]

Thanks Mark. I’m pretty sure as the seasons change my repair skills will sell.

You need to work for a like minded company Paul .. or work for yourself to full the gap till pension time.. I'm sure that's going through your mind

Yep, also consider that the people who are using unscrupulous selling practices to get jobs, probably also used those skills to convince you to work for them in the first place.